Accidental Journey
by Thesseli
Summary: Shugos are shugos and daevas are daevas, right? Or are things not really that simple?
1. Chapter 1

Syndara spotted the shugo as soon as she entered the tavern. He was sitting at the bar, but he'd been facing towards the Apellbine's entrance, and when he saw her he jumped down from his seat and hurried over to her.

"Syndara! Syndara!" he said earnestly, taking her by hands. "So glad you could come. Have terrible problem, terrible. No-one else knows what to do, not shugos or daevas. You were only other person Kaoranerk could think of who might be able to help."

The sorcerer frowned. She'd never seen the inventor so distressed…not even when his wife had left him. He was one of the few people Syndara knew who shared her love of science and technology, and they talked frequently. She hadn't heard from him for the past few weeks, though. "What happened?" she asked.

"Lab accident," he whispered. "Very bad. Nobody knows how to fix. Tried everything! Thought maybe pink-haired daeva might think of something others didn't."

"A lab accident?" Her brow furrowed. "Was anyone hurt?"

He shook his head. "No. Er, not exactly." His whiskers twitched nervously.

"Not exactly?" snorted a voice from behind them.

Syndara turned. There was a young man at the bar, near where Kaoranerk had been sitting. He had a half-finished glass of something in his hand, and he would have been rather handsome, in Syndara's estimation, if he hadn't had such a deep scowl on his face. But Kaoranerk was bristling. "Was accident!" the shugo insisted.

"Was accident," the man mimicked sarcastically.

"Potion should have worked! Stupid courier contaminated ingredients on way to lab!"

"Wait, wait, slow down," Syndara interrupted. "Potion? What kind of potion? What exactly happened?"

"Potion," Kaoranerk said slowly, lowering his voice. "Potion to learn Asmodian language and Elyos language instantly. Commissioned by Torinerk to help with communications, if daeva knows what Kaoranerk means."

Syndara nodded. She'd always guessed that the business owned by her friend Talerinerk's great-granduncle was involved with trade on both sides of the world, which would have gotten him executed by either faction if they'd known about it.

"Very useful if can get it working, yes?" Kaoranerk asked. "But with bad ingredients," the shugo continued in exasperation, "potion does not work!"

"Kaoranerk means 'potion explodes while being prepared by incompetent scientist', not 'potion does not work'," the young man declared. "Nothing was wrong with the ingredients Talerinerk brought."

Syndara's face fell. "Tal was there?" she asked worriedly. "He was the courier who brought you the supplies for Torinerk's potion? What happened, is he all right?"

"Friend of daeva is alive and awake and fine," Kaoranerk assured her.

"Are you sure? Where is he?" 

"Talerinerk is fine, Syndara," the man at the bar said, his voice softening.

The daeva blinked, taking a closer look at the young man. Fair hair, light blue eyes, very open expression. Still, she couldn't place him. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've been introduced..."

Kaoranerk sighed, then gestured at the leather and metal band on the man's left wrist.

Syndara recognized it immediately. It was Talerinerk's tail ring.

"Syndara," he said sheepishly. "This is Talerinerk."


	2. Chapter 2

Syndara blinked again, but said nothing. She just continued to stare at the man who, a moment ago, had been introduced as someone she knew, but who looked absolutely nothing like he was supposed to.

"Not shugo anymore, not since accident," Kaoranerk offered, as if to clarify what was painfully obvious. "Unpacked potion ingredients to make sure all were there, but very volatile…didn't even start mixing, vapors reacted in air! But Talerinerk very close, breathed in…and now like this."

Syndara remained silent for a bit longer, still staring. Then she turned to the bar. "I'm way ahead of you," muttered Jeckrow, handing her a glass of vinna wine. He looked like he'd had a few himself.

The sorcerer downed it in a single gulp, then finally spoke. "So what you're saying is this universal human language potion Torinerk commissioned you to create exploded, and Tal was at the center of it? And instead of being able to speak human, he became human instead?"

Kaoranerk nodded. "See? Daeva very smart, was right person for Kaoranerk to call."

Syndara took a step closer. The human – Tal, she reminded herself – met her gaze, but his lower lip was quivering slightly. "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked gently. "You weren't hurt, were you? Injured in the explosion?"

"No," he murmured. "Many healers checked. Am perfectly healthy, physically. But nobody knows what to do to change Talerinerk back." He sighed morosely.

"But Kaoranerk thinks I might be able to help?" she asked, sitting down at the bar. Both of them nodded. "Well, I'm certainly flattered that you thought of me, but if the best minds in Asmodae couldn't come up with anything, I'm not sure I can either."

"Any scientific assistance from daeva would be most appreciated. Kaoranerk will find a way to change courier back to shugo again! But need a different type of help for Talerinerk first. Syndara does not know entire story yet."

She looked at Tal dubiously. "There's more?"

The former shugo folded his arms. "Oh, there's more."

Kaoranerk nodded, and gestured at Tal. "Go on. Show daeva."

Talerinerk sighed again, but rose to his feet. He stretched luxuriously…and then extended an impressive pair of dark-feathered daeva wings.


	3. Chapter 3

Jeckrow was already there with another glass of wine. Syndara gulped it down, unable to take her eyes off her friend. "This is impossible."

Tal crossed his arms again. "Evidently not."

"When…when did this happen?"

"A few days after accident," Kaoranerk replied.

"I see." She didn't know what else to say. How did a shugo that had been transformed into a human ascend? She didn't know the criteria for ascension, nobody did. What had Tal done to meet them?

"Pink-haired daeva will help new daeva?" the inventor asked hopefully. "Teach him daeva things while Kaoranerk does much, much research into problem? Maybe she will help with research too, while not fighting brave battles against the Balaur?"

"Of course she…I mean, I will," Syndara replied, still a bit overwhelmed. And if she was feeling that way, she could only imagine how Tal felt. And what about his family? "I'll help in any way I can. You can count on me."

"Excellent!" Kaoranerk proclaimed. Tal looked much less enthusiastic about the prospect, but smiled weakly anyway. "Kaoranerk will figure out how to change Talerinerk back, and will perfect the translation potion too! Oh, so exciting! Cannot wait to hear about all the adventures new daeva will have!"

Tal regarded the (other) shugo dubiously, then rolled his eyes. "Bartender?" he asked, holding out his glass. "Need another. Now."


End file.
